Motive is sought for fatal attack in Ore. high school

Share via e-mail

A candlelight vigil was held Tuesday night for Emilio Hoffman, the student killed at Reynolds High School.

By Gosia Wozniacka
Associated Press
June 12, 2014

TROUTDALE, Ore. — A 15-year-old boy accused of killing a fellow freshman in a high school locker room was heavily armed with an assault rifle, nine magazines of ammunition, a handgun, and a knife that police said Wednesday had been taken from a secured area at his family home.

The details were released as police provided a more detailed account of the violence Tuesday at Reynolds High School in Troutdale and a portrait emerged of 15-year-old suspect Jared Michael Padgett as a devout Mormon and aspiring serviceman.

Freshman Daniel DeLong, 15, said he would see Padgett in the school halls but did not have any classes with him.

‘‘Honestly he looked like a really nice kid, like somebody you’d want to have on your side,’’ DeLong said. ‘‘I never would have thought this would have happened.’’

Earl Milliron, a friend of the Padgett family, said Jared planned a career in the military and was devoted to his Mormon faith after being ordained as a deacon at age 12.

‘‘I never suspected that he had serious problems, I refuse in my mind to believe that Jared Michael who did the shooting is the same Jared Michael I knew,’’ said Milliron, 86, who has known the Padgett family for more than 25 years and belongs to the same church ward.

Jared Padgett’s oldest brother had served in the military in Afghanistan and Jared was planning the same path, he said. Jared was in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program and was proud to be seen in his uniform.

Jared’s mother and father were no longer together, and the couple had six children, Milliron said.

‘‘I saw Jared at church every Sunday,’’ he said. ‘‘He was very quiet. I never saw him angry. He was extremely even-tempered; he was always at the best possible behavior.’’

Police Chief Scott Anderson said Padgett had taken the weapons used in the attack from his family home. ‘‘The weapons had been secured, but he defeated the security measures,’’ the chief said.

Padgett took a school bus to campus before the shooting and carried a guitar case and duffel bag. Police declined, however, to say if the weapons had been concealed in the baggage.

At school, the shooter went to a gymnasium that was detached from the main building and shot Hoffman in a locker room. He also wounded physical education teacher Todd Rispler, who managed to make his way to an office and warn administrators about the shooting. A lockdown was ordered and authorities were notified.

‘‘I cannot emphasize enough the role that Mr. Rispler and the responding officers played in saving many, many lives yesterday,’’ Anderson said.

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.

Thanks & Welcome to Globe.com

You now have unlimited access for the next two weeks.

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.